


Bridge the Gap

by Mafalda_Fan_183



Category: Descendants (Disney Movies)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-03
Updated: 2019-03-12
Packaged: 2019-08-16 23:57:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,453
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16505213
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mafalda_Fan_183/pseuds/Mafalda_Fan_183
Summary: This is  inspired by the fic Pen Pals by Star Piadosas over on fanfiction.netAU where Jay is in Auradon and is Aladdin's son and is assigned Carlos as his Isle pen pal.Mild TW for abuse





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Pen Pals](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/429941) by Star Piadosas. 

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is inspired by the fic Pen Pals by Star Piadosas over on fanfiction.net 
> 
> AU where Jay is in Auradon and is Aladdin's son and is assigned Carlos as his Isle pen pal.
> 
> Mild TW for abuse

“Pen pals? Really?” Jay scoffed.

“With kids from the isle!” Fairy Godmother added.

The class began to murmur amongst themselves at the news.

Jay was instantly intrigued. He always felt that the separation was unfair. After all, his father was a thief and a liar but somehow wasn’t considered a villian. He often lamented his woes to his closest friend, Ben. It seemed unfair that only some people got a second chance, at least to him. And he did inherit his father’s cunning, and was often in trouble with the law as a child. He’s calmed since, but none the less he always felt a strange disconnect with the others that lived around him. 

Lost in thought, Jay didn’t even notice the slight smirk on Ben’s face. This was his idea. He learned about the students from the other class and carefully assigned the best pairs he could. He was so excited for Jay to begin talking with his pal.

As the Fairy Godmother passed out the enchanted notebooks, Jay finally noticed his friend’s bizzare look.

“And what gave you this idea?” He asked, leaning his head onto his hand.

Ben shrugged. “I pay attention to the things you say. I think I picked the perfect pal for you.”

Jay raised an eyebrow. 

Ben shrugged, an obvious smirk spreading across his face. “I’m just saying, he’s real cute.” 

“Can you not?” Jay shot back in an angry, hushed tone. Ben had this bizarre notion that just because Jay never had a girlfriend despite him being incredibly popular he mustn't like girls.

Of course, that wasn’t very accepted in Auradon. Ben only knew about it because he was studying to rule one day, and thus must learn of all possibilities. Immediately after hearing about the idea of homosexuality last year in his studies, something clicked. 

Jay, of course, denied this. However, Ben seems pretty set on the idea. He even promised Jay that he would fix the prejudice when he was ruler.

Jay just hadn’t found a girl good enough for him, is all. Or, at least that’s what he told himself.

Upon receiving his notebook, the name Carlos was featured prominently on the cover. From Jay to Carlos, it read in beautiful gold lettering.

“You will write a letter to your pal using at least one page, then send the message by closing the letter. Examples are: From or sincerely. Anything of that sort will work. I will collect the books at the end of class. Is that clear?”

“Yes, Fairy Godmother.” the class replied in unison.

“Good.” She said as she began going over the paperwork at her desk. Quickly, the class devolved into small conversations about the pen pals assignment.

Jay opened his book and sighed. 

“Oh come on I know you’re excited about this project.” Ben nudged his friend.

“Well it would be better if you weren’t using it as a means to get me into some weird relationship.”

Ben sighed, slightly frustrated. “Okay okay fine. But, don’t let that ruin this for you, okay?”

“Okay.” Jay sighed in defeat.

… 

The villain kids were given their notebooks the next day. Well, more like the teacher just flopped them onto their desks and said that they all had Auradon pen pals. They were supposed to write to them, and if they didn’t they’d fail the class. Someone with leverage over the professor probably made him do it. He said it was homework and went on with the usual lesson on basic math and advanced cruelty.

Carlos was so happy his mother was still out when he got home. He bolted up to his room and locked the door behind him. His curiosity over the notebooks was absolutely killing him. Ever the curious kid, for better or for worse. He flopped down onto his bed and took about the book. It was magic! The only magic on the isle and he was holding it! How was this possible? Maybe he could get the Auradon kid to tell him. Not yet, though. Asking questions about the magic barrier would look too suspicious. There were definitely people keeping tabs on their writings over in Auradon . He saw the first letter from someone named Jay and began to read.

‘Hey Carlos!’ The letter began. ‘My friend apparently thinks we would make good pen pals. Let me tell you about myself. I’m jay and I love sports. MVP of the tourny team!’ Tourny team? What’s tourny? Either way, this Jay character was obviously very confident. He spoke more about his friend, his daily routine… lots of interesting stuff. All Carlos could think was how disappointed Jay was going to be with his pal. ‘I’ve always been curious about the isle and he people who live there so I can’t wait to hear about you! Sincerely, Jay.’

‘Hello, Jay. I’m really sorry that your friend paired you with me. Maybe you could exchange for a more interesting pen pal? Maybe not, but it’s worth a shot. Anyway, the isle is fine, I guess. I mean, it’s all I’ve ever known. Mom and her friends seem to really hate living here so I guess the outside world is better. Maybe they just miss having magic. It’s kind of crazy t have this magic notebook. There’s been no magic here for twenty years and they just hand a group of school kids some magic books! It’s kind of amazing, honestly. I guess the way that you would know me is through my mother, Cruella de Ville. I’m usually identified that way, as de Ville’s son here at least. That mustn't be how it is in Auradon though, considering you didn’t mention family ties at all. You seem very interesting though! What’s tourney, by the way? I’ve never heard of it. And does team mean something different there? Because here it just means gang and I’m pretty sure that there aren’t any gangs in Auradon . Or maybe there are. I don’t know much about it, honestly. Well, except that they have dogs there. I hope I wasn’t too boring. From, Carlos’

… 

Jay felt so sad reading his letter. He had never heard anyone so unsure of themselves before, not even Jane. The moment Ben sat in his seat, Jay began asking questions.

“Woah woah slow down. One thing at a time, man.” Ben chuckled slightly.

“My pen pal is so depressed! He seems so un-confident! Why is that?”

Ben shrugged. “Ask him.”

“And why did you pick him for me?”

Ben opened his mouth to reply but was immediately cut off.

“And don’t say because he’s cute.”

Ben’s mouth snapped shut immediately. 

“Was that the only reason?”

“No, I thought you’d like the shy nervous type so…”

Jay groaned and smacked his head into the desk.

“Just sayin, you’d be cute together.”

Lucky for Jay, Fairy Godmother took this opportunity to begin class.

…

After school, Carlos was nervous. Hopefully his pen pal didn’t hate him. Hopefully… But as soon as he walked into the door he had different worries. Mother was home. Great. 

After an hour of grooming coats, scrubbing feet, and more that a few new burn marks he was finally free to go into his room. He still had tears of pain from the burns his mother loved to brand him with running down his face. It never got any easier to deal with. 

He read the letter quietly.

‘You don’t seem boring. Who’s got you so down? I had a few bullies growing up but after being friends with Ben, it cleared up real quick. I don’t know if that would work for you but for what it’s worth I don't think you’re so bad.’ This, of course, did little to help his tears. “Any way Tourny is a game and you play it with other people, so it’s not a gang it’s a team.’ He rambled a bit about tourny for a while, then continued. ‘I’m Aladdin's son, but I don’t mention it often. It just doesn't come to mind I guess. Anyway, keep your chin up! Sincerely, Jay.’

Carlos wrote his reply on his paper, quickly staining it with tears. Hopefully that didn’t interrupt the process or anything. After, he sighed. It had been a long day and sleep was calling his name.

…  
Tears. There were tears on the letter. He barely read the reply before penciling his own.

‘Carlos, are you okay’

‘Yeah I’m fine. Thanks for your concern, though.’

Jay quickly realized he was gonna have to piece together the story of his new friend. He wasn’t one to outright say much but he would hint. Something was going on.

He was finally able to take the journal home too after the second week. Jay was super excited to be able to write to Carlos whenever he wanted. He would never tell anyone, especially Ben, bt Carlos seemed super cute. He was a little dorky, shy, oh so shy, and sweet. Well, sweet for a villain.

Carlos was surprised that Jay couldn't take home the journal until now, though he shouldn’t have been. Of course Auradon was cautious, and of course the isle was not. 

‘Really? That’s great!’ Normally he would have thanked Jay for wanting to talk to him but Jay didn’t seem to like that. Weird… ‘I’m really happy that I can still chat with you over the weekends now too.’

Jay’s reply came quickly. ‘Me too! Any plans for the weekend?’

‘No, not really.’ Came Carlos’ reply. ‘My mom is out though so I’ll probably just relax for the time being.’ That sounded like a hint. Could he not relax around his mom? ‘What about you?’

‘I have a Tourny game tomorrow.’

And something I need to ask Ben…


	2. Chapter 2

“I want to meet Carlos in person.”

“What?” Ben asked, looking up from tying his cleats. 

“I want to meet him in person.”

“Why?”

“Because I want to know more about him. He might open up to me better in person.”

Ben sighed. “I’m already working on it, but it won’t be easy. It looks like I’m going to have to wait until I’m king…”

“What?” Jay shouted.

“I know, I know but I…”

“That’ll be years from now!”

Ben sighed again. “I’m sorry, Jay. I was hoping this pen pals project would make it easier but it doesn't seem to be helping.”

“Trying to set me up with someone I’ll never meet? If it had a chance of working, that’d be cruel.”

Ben chuckled slightly. “You know me, never quite thinking things through.”

…

Jay was not waiting. He wasn’t very patient to begin with but now having gotten to be pretty close friends with Carlos he really wanted to meet with him in person.

He stole a limo. One of the ones that could cross the magical border. This was a terrible idea. He was going to be in so, so much trouble. Well, if he was caught.

After the Tourney game, his team won of course, he quickly snagged the car. He had come up with the plan during the game. Steal the car, cross the border, find Cruella’s house, meet Carlos.

And he knew what a bad idea it was. But hey, he wouldn’t be in that much trouble. Since the isle was the only thing that resembled a prison in Auradon, and he certainly wasn’t going to be sent there, he was probably getting off with a warning.

He wasn’t prepared for the isle itself though. It was terrible, the streets were filthy, someone was walking around with a knife and acting extremely paranoid. All he could do was hope he wasn’t going to be attacked.

He quickly came upon an open store. It resembled that of the convenience stores back home. “I’m looking for Curella. Know where she lives?” He asked the clerk.

The clerk simply looked up at him, one eyebrow raised. “I’ll tell you, if you give me that.” He pointed at the fancy watch on Jay’s wrist. 

Jay shrugged, removing the watch. It was expensive, sure, but it wasn’t very important to him. 

“18223. Take a left when you leave here and walk two blocks. It’s the one with spots on the walls.”

“Thanks.” Jay nodded, hastily leaving the store.

…

The home was pretty obviously Cruella’s. It was white with black spots, of course, and had a bright red door.

Looking around, he noticed that one window on the side of the house was lit. Jay was happy he had told Carlos that he would chat with him after the game if he was still up. It looked like he waited for him.

He scaled the wall, peeking into the room. Carlos was sprawled across the floor, drawing something. Jay tapped on the window loudly and Carlos sprung from the floor, taking a fighting stance.

Jay simply smiled wide and waved. “Hey Carlos!”

Carlos looked confused for a fraction of a second, then turned back to battle ready. “Who are you and what are you doing here?” He demanded fiercely.

Jay laughed uncomfortably. He was taken back by Carlos’ harshness. “It’s me, Jay.”

Carlos scoffed. “Liar. Leave!” He shouted.

“No really I’m Jay.”

“And you just crossed the magic border.” Carlos said, skeptical.

Jay nodded. “Yeah!”

Carlos shook his head at the stupidity of the intruder. “You’re clearly not getting that I know you're lying. Leave or I will force you!”

“Wait! No I can prove it!” Jay pleaded.

Carlos finally paused to look into the other’s eyes. “Wait, you really believe everything you’re saying, don’t you?”

Jay nodded enthusiastically.

“And you really think you can prove it?”

Jay nodded again, a huge smile on his face.

Carlos dropped his stance and opened the window. “Okay, maybe you really are from Auradon.”

Jay stepped inside. “I am!” He pulled the backpack from his shoulders. “And I brought stuff! Lots of the foods you haven’t tried and pictures and games…”

Carlos was still a bit cautious but watched as Jay rummaged through his bag. 

…

He arrived in Alderon just before the sun rose. He was able to climb back through the window of his dorm without any one else noticing. Luckily, his roommate had graduated the year before and they had yet to find a replacement. Exhausted, he flopped into bed. At Least it was Sunday. He could just sleep all sunday.

He awoke a few hours later to a weird message in his notebook.

‘You’ll never believe what happened last night. Some guy pretending to be you just showed up at my window! He brought all these weird snacks, they were good though! Don’t worry, I made sure that he didn’t poison them first. My stomach does hurt a bit, but I think that it was because I ate too much, so don’t worry about me. He also had these pictures of himself with some other people and he claimed they were from Auradon. He did know all about Tourney though! Even told some fascinating stories about it, he really thought all of it through! It looks like someone here on the isle must have tapped into our journals, so don’t reveal anything too personal or important. Anyway, thought you might find that interesting. Good morning, by the way! How was Tourney? Also don’t panic if I don’t answer right away, that random guy kept me up all night so I think I need a nap.’

Random guy? 

‘No, no Carlos, that was me!’

‘What? Then why didn’t you say anything? Or, well, write anything?’

‘I thought they might be monitoring the journals, but it’s been awhile since you sent that message, right? So maybe no one is.’

‘Or maybe no one has checked yet. Hang on.’

Carlos grabbed a vial filled with dye and dumped it over his letter.

‘Did that work? I tried to cover it.’

Jay flipped back a few pages and noticed that there was a large block of ink over the text.

‘Yes! It did!’

‘Awesome! I’ll cover the rest and we’ll continue like this never happened! You cover yours too, okay?’

‘Okay.’ Jay replied, pouring ink over his own words.

‘How’d Tourney go?’

‘We won.’ Jay replied.

‘Of course you did.’


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A new plan

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for reading!

“Are there really bullies in Auradon?” Carlos asked, munching on a chocolate bar.

Jay shrugged. “I know right? For heros they sure didn’t raise their kids to be nice.”

“Well here, everyone is just kind of mean.” Carlos began. “I don’t think it’s the same though. Everyone is equally mean to those that are weaker. It’s good to be powerful, or to know someone who is.”

“Is your mother feared here?”

Carlos nodded. “She is known for murdering baby animals.”

Jay shuttered. “That is pretty terrifying.”

Carlos was sitting pretty close to him as they ate their snacks. After the second meeting, about a week ago, Carlos had began to trust him. He noticed it pretty early on, Carlos would like to sit near him. Like, a few inches away near. In Auradon, even the closest of people would sit about a foot apart, you didn’t get close like this. He wondered if this was a Carlos thing or an Isle thing. He could always ask, but then Carlos might catch on that he was a bit uncomfortable and move back. 

And yes, Jay was uncomfortable. But if this is what Carlos wanted to do, then he would deal. Considering how much more he had told him - about his mother and his friends and the like - he didn’t want to risk losing that trust over something so small. I mean, Carlos was by no means an open book, and Jay knew he hadn’t told him everything, but he had really warmed up to him over the week.

Jay snuck out and spent an hour or so at the isle every day after practice. He knew the route to Carlos’ house by heart and always walked quick, he had been there enough to know not to explore. Curella was still on her little get-away so it was still safe for him to visit.

It was saturday night, so today Jay could stay a bit longer that usual, seeing as he didn’t have school in the morning. 

Carlos moved a little closer to Jay, and Jay had to try not to scoot away.

“I’m kind of surprised people get away with being mean in Auradon. Especially to someone like you.”

Jay swallowed, still uncomfortable with the closeness. “You’d be surprised how mean they can get there.”

“Sounds like a nice place though. At least, compared to here.”

Jay nodded. “Yeah, it is.” A few moments of silence passed. “If I were able to bring you there, would you want to go?”

Carlos paused in thought. Jay would have thought it would be an easy choice, Isle bad, Auradon good. So, why the hesitation.

“Maybe.”

Well, that wasn’t a no.

…

“You’re getting sloppy.” Ben commented when he met up with Jay in the hall.

“What?” Jay asked, genuinely confused. They were going to the dining hall for breakfast like they did every Sunday.

“So, where do you sneak off to every day?”

Jay groaned. Well, at least it was Ben who caught him, not an authority figure or an enemy.

“Where do you go?” Ben asked, teasingly.

“I… I shouldn’t say.”

Ben was taken back. “What? Why not? You know you can…”

“Tell you anything, yes yes I know. But this… This is kind of a big deal. Like, really big.”

“What are you doing at night, Jay?” Ben said, tone serious.

Jay sighed, glancing around. He ducked himself and Ben into an alleyway.

“Okay, don’t freak out, please.”

Jay looked at him, a serious expression on his face.

“I go.. To the Isle.”

“WHAT?”

“Sh! Keep it down!”

“Why would you do that?” Ben whispered in a harsh tone.

“Well you couldn’t bring Carlos here so I thought that…”

“That is so stupid! How do you even get there?” A look of realization crossed Ben’s face. “You STEAL a car?”

“Seriously! Someone will hear!”

“Dude! You can’t do that!”

“Well it was the only way to meet Carlos in person!”

“That is so so so stupid!”

“I know!”

“How long have you been doing this?”

“A week?”

“And you haven’t been caught?” Ben was shocked.

Jay shook his head. “Not until now.”

Ben sighed. “Unbelievable. You can’t keep doing this.”

“Well, why not? It’s been going well so far!”

Ben sighed at his friend’s hard headedness. “That doesn't mean anything.”

“Well then let him come here.”

“You know I can’t do that.”

“No, you’ve been advocating for the Isle kids, right? Well how about just one? Wouldn’t that be easier?”

Ben paused. “You know what, it might be.”


End file.
